


They Meet Age Three

by fezzydrinks



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: And it isn't angsty, Fluff, Les Mis Secret Santa, M/M, Modern AU, Pining, Unrequited Love, childhood AU, don't worry it's a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 02:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9051901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fezzydrinks/pseuds/fezzydrinks
Summary: This is a gift for enjolrazzledazzle-ao3 for Les Miserables Secret Santa 2016. It's about Ferre and Courf growing up together and it's mostly quite cute, especially when they are small.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enjolrazzledazzle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjolrazzledazzle/gifts).



They meet aged three. In Kindergarten they sit next to each other at lunch because they are both on the ‘allergies’ table, which means they have special placemats that have their names and photos and what they can’t eat. Being three, they only know about the photo. Combeferre immediately likes the chubby armed boy who can drink about six glasses of milk in one sitting and who sings songs about pudding at the lunch table (until Mrs Bean tells him off for being too noisy). Combeferre is also comforted by the fact that Courfeyrac has a name which is as hard to learn to write as his own.

“I can count.” Combeferre says, wanting to impress Courfeyrac, who is wearing a really cool dinosaur t-shirt that makes Combeferre want to be his friend.

“I can fit two ‘tatoes in my mouth at once.” Courfeyrac replies and demonstrates, gleefully. Combeferre is meanwhile counting to ten but he gets confused around seven because he is so giggly at the sight of Courfeyrac’s stuffed cheeks. They have chocolate pudding for dessert and after the meal Combeferre is praised for his neat eating. Courfeyrac is dragged off to the bathroom to be washed off as he has chocolate pudding everywhere. They play policemen together when it is outdoor playtime and Courfeyrac’s siren noises are truly glorious. Combeferre tells a small girl named Eponine she has the right to remain silent and ends up getting told off for making her cry. That evening, when their mothers arrive to pick them up they find the boys curled up in Storybook Corner, where Combeferre is reading ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ to Courfeyrac. Not that he can read but it’s his favourite book so he remembers all the noises you have to make. Courfeyrac has been joining in, saying the ‘swishes’ and ‘squelches’ with vigour after Combeferre has demonstrated.

 

When they are four they begin school and quickly their duo becomes a trio with the edition of Enjolras. Their long names are too much for their classmates and teachers and they have become Courf, Ferre and Enj in just a few weeks, names they will keep forever. They soon make a name for themselves as the playground’s vigilante justices, mainly because of Enjolras. If ever he sees someone refusing to share or pushing someone else around he leaps into action to create a fairer playground and usually drags Ferre and Courf with him. It is in confronting injustice that their little group grows, because Courfeyrac beams like a sun and attracts people to them not just as people they have saved, but as real friends. They meet Joly, who was being teased about his cane and Bossuet, who has alopecia and was being teased about that. Bahorel had been kept down a year and so Courfeyrac swoops in when he sees him looking ignored in the playground and invites him to join their game of spies. Bahorel, it transpires, is a wonderful spy because he makes brilliant laser gun noises and can do judo. Feuilly is added because he has two fathers and other children are mean about this. Enjolras fights them with reason, Bahorel tends to use fists (Combeferre scuttles after him to stop him getting into trouble) and Courfeyrac sits down with Feuilly and asks him all about having two Dads. They learn that two men or women can love each other the same way their Mummies and Daddies do and this does not phase them; they have no reason not to be open minded.

 

Combeferre likes having all these new friends to play games with but he remains closest to Courfeyrac and Enjolras. On their first ever Sports Day they are all three in the egg and spoon race and decide they will cross the finishing line together, so as to be completely fair. Bahorel wins the race but it is Enj, Courf and Ferre who the crowd cheer for as they cross the line last, holding hands. Their mothers buy them matching chocolate ice creams to congratulate them for not dropping their eggs. Most weekends the trio spend together at one of their houses, playing games and doing craft projects their mothers set up for them. In later years Combeferre can pinpoint their awakening to activism on one their weekends. They are at Courf’s house playing with water pistols in the garden when his Mum asks if they want to help make some posters. She bribes them with the prospect of paint, glitter and milkshakes so they willingly agree. Because she doesn’t have three aprons she makes them take their shirts off so they’re a bit easier to hose down and then she explains what the posters are for and what they say. She and Courfeyrac’s Dad will take them to a protest about how the outside world is suffering and the government aren’t doing enough. They colour in the letters on the posters with paint and then decorate a polar bear that Courfeyrac’s Dad has drawn with silver glitter.

“Please can we come to the protest?” Asks Enjolras, after they have all been washed and dried having got covered with decorating supplies during the poster making.

“Yes” Combeferre finds himself saying, “It’s very sad about the polar bears dying. It isn’t fair.”

Courfeyrac’s Mum thinks for a while and says they can come if their parents let them. When Enjolras’s Dad and Combeferre’s Granny arrive to take them home it is decided they can come to the protest for an hour or so but will have to leave if they misbehave or if there start being too many people. Combeferre thinks the point is surely that there are lots of people but he is excited to show people his posters and hand out leaflets, which is what Courfeyrac’s Mum has said they can do.

 

The day of the protest arrives and Combeferre puts on the t-shirt he has made, which he had to get a lot of help with. He has written ‘PLEASE RECYCLE’ in green permanent marker and he needed help spelling both of the words and it took a lot of effort to control the pen for that long. His Dad drives him into the city centre and walks him over to a white tent where Courfeyrac’s family is already waiting. His Dad leaves him and Courfeyrac tells him his t-shirt is the best thing he’s ever seen. Comberferre glows with pride. A short while later Enjolras arrives and then the three of them begin to talk to members of the public and hand out leaflets.

“Hello, did you know that the earth is in big danger? Animals are dying.” Combeferre opens with.

“It’s humans who are the baddies to the earth so we have to fix things.” Says Enjolras.

“Please take one of these leaflets and come and look at the posters we made!” Ends Courfeyrac and takes the member of the public to show them the posters. They follow a similar format the whole time they’re there and manage to hand out more leaflets than any of the grown-ups. Courfeyrac’s mum tells them she is enormously proud of them all and gives them all some tasty fair trade chocolate as a reward. The next week at school they bring in their posters and leaflets for ‘show and tell’ and tell the whole class about why they should recycle and turn lights off (with the help of their teacher, Mr Parker). Mr Parker is so impressed that he gets the whole class to do pictures of things they can do to help the environment and write a sentence under their picture. Then he puts everyone’s work up on a display in the corridor, including the posters they brought in. All three boys feel enormously proud of their work.

 

At eleven they start secondary school and they pick up more friends to join their group, which spent much of primary school holding playground protests over things like the fact boys aren’t allowed to do sewing lessons and holding assemblies about why gay people should be allowed to get married (which Feuilly’s Dads had helped them with). Marius is in a form with Courfeyrac and he soon is a part of the group due to his boundless enthusiasm for anything and everything. Feuilly finds Grantaire in art club and drags him to junior politics society, a club which Enjolras has formed, although meetings are run by a couple of sixth formers who were thrilled some younger students were interested in politics. In turn Grantaire brings Eponine, his only other friend and Enjolras is quite excited to finally have a girl in junior politics society, which was admittedly very male until her appearance. Combeferre blushes when he first sees Eponine but she has forgotten the time he made her cry in Kindergarten and they swiftly move on. Combeferre is proud that he manages to bring someone to junior politics society too, someone called Jehan who he met in book club. Jehan already knows they’re non binary at 11, which Combeferre thinks is amazing. He has no idea what he is, for the most part. Jehan arrives to their first JPS meeting with a floral headband and a French braid and nobody knows how to take it for a moment because they’re wearing a boy’s school uniform but then Bahorel gives them an enormous welcoming hug and they’re in the group too. Several weeks later Cossette and Musichetta join and they are the source of much fluster as Marius quite clearly has a massive crush on Cossette and it seems as though Joly and Bossuet might fancy Musichetta as well. But they’re eleven so they just carry on as friends basically.

 

By age fourteen the JPS has somehow morphed into Les Amis d’ABC and they have new members from other years, although Combeferre keeps the same core of friends. Enjolras has moved onto chairing meetings himself and Combeferre has accepted that Enj is the real shining star. Courfeyrac is still sunny and friendly, and seems to get off with more girls than any nerdy fourteen year old boy has any right to but Enjolras is the leader of the political, organised side of things. Combeferre is perfectly happy with the arrangement, he enjoys doing all the research and making posters and leaflets and finding places and times for them to hold events. He knows that is his strength, just as Enj’s is making speeches and rallying the people. As much as Courfeyrac is the fun one he also plays a serious role in the society as he organises all their fundraisers and his parents are the ones who take them all on protests still. Most of the others fit in the group easily, it is only Grantaire who poses a problem. He argues with everything Enjolras says and they don’t seem able to get on at all. Sometimes it can make meetings unpleasant and Combeferre knows that both Grantaire and Enj are perfectly nice so he doesn’t know why they can’t just tolerate each other. Courfeyrac has said he knows what it’s all about and laughed when Combeferre said he had no idea. Combeferre realised at thirteen that he was gay and just a few weeks ago he realised the pangs he felt when he saw Courf with all those girls were because he was in love with him. It hurts but he is mostly too wrapped up in Les Amis and schoolwork and Book Club to think about it too much so he is able to carry on without doing anything.

 

The year they start sixth form they are sixteen and there is a Christmas ball. Combeferre enjoys it, enjoys watching his friends who are couples dance with each other. It is as he is staring longingly at the dance floor that Courf approaches him and asks him to dance. His stomach leaps ridiculously. Courf is just being nice. And scandalous it seems, as he says

“Let’s turn some heads in this old town, Ferre.” That sounds like a quote but a lot of what Courf says sounds like quotes. They do indeed turn some heads as they dance together and Combeferre almost feels like Courf could like him back but he’s too shy to say anything or, God forbid, kiss Courfeyrac. At the end of the night Courf is making out with Montparnasse, which is the worst thing ever because obviously Courf would rather kiss a total cock than Combeferre. When Ferre sees the photos of the ball on Facebook he realises someone took a photo of them dancing and it seems obvious to him how much he loves Courf, he can see it in his eyes. When he reaches a photo someone took of Parnasse and Courf kissing he shuts his laptop in disgust. It is probably time to stop this pining. On Christmas Day that year Combeferre opens his gift from Courf and it’s an antique book of wildlife and it is perfect so Combeferre knows that he is not going to stop loving this boy.

 

They are seventeen and Combeferre knew he would not enjoy this, knew coming was a bad idea. They’re at the sixth form rave in a barn, which is certainly not an official school event, and it has been called ‘After Dark’ for years, which is a crap name but it’s what they’ve got. Courfeyrac had flopped onto the barn wall next to Combeferre a couple of minutes ago, looking like he might pass out. Joly rushed to get water and now Combeferre is holding Courf up while Joly tries to get him to keep drinking.

“Come on Courf, you’re going to be okay.” Combeferre says in what he hopes is a soothing tone as he rubs Courfeyrac’s arm, trying to keep him awake. Joly hands the water bottle to Combeferre as he is dragged off into the writhing mass of dancing teenagers by Musichetta and Bossuet. At some point in getting the water he seems to have lost his cane and he is now relying on them for support.

“Keep drinking, Courf, you’ll be okay.” Combeferre repeats as he holds the water bottle up to Courfeyrac’s mouth. Courf drinks a little more and mumbles thanks. About thirty seconds later he begins to vomit quite spectacularly. Combeferre continues to comfort him and thinks that he must love Courfeyrac very much to put up with this. Grantaire stumbles over, unable to do up his own trousers and after Grantaire staggers off, muttering something about finding Enj, Combeferre thinks he probably deserves a sainthood.

 

Once Courf is able to move again they go outside to wait for the taxi they are sharing with Enj. Fortunately Courfeyrac got ill far enough into the evening that they did not have too long to wait before they could get him home.

“’m stupid” says Courfeyrac, after he has been sick again.

“Yes, but it’s okay, you didn’t mean to drink so much.” Combeferre tells him.

“I’m still an idiot. You’re the best Ferre, you know. I love you so much.”

Even though Courf is very drunk and obviously means this entirely platonically Combeferre cannot help his heart from leaping. When their taxi is nearly due he phones Enjolras to get him to come over to them. He is surprised, yet at the same time isn’t to hear Enjolras tell Grantire to stop trying to distract him and the giggle in a most un-Enjolras like way before he tells Combeferre he’ll be there soon. Miraculously Courf manages not to be sick in the taxi and Combeferre decides he’ll just stay at Courf’s so he can see him in. Enj drives off and Combeferre unlocks the front door and drags Courfeyrac in behind him. He pushes him up the stairs noisily as Courf’s parents are out chaining themselves to trees this weekend. Once they are upstairs Combeferre makes Courf take a shower since he’s literally covered in mud and he sits on the toilet seat with his eyes closed to make sure Courf doesn’t actually drown. He thinks it would be dishonest to use the opportunity to ogle Courf’s naked body when he’s so out of it. Then he helps the boy put his pyjamas on, which may have been more arousing if Courf hadn’t passed out the minute he sat on his bed and wasn’t now snoring loudly because he was fast asleep. Combeferre has a shower himself and then pulls out the guest bed that is in a drawer under Courf’s bed and goes to sleep.  The next day Courf is incredibly hungover and incredibly grateful to Combeferre for making him tea and breakfast before he goes home. Once again, Combeferre is a saint.

 

They are eighteen and about to leave school and Combeferre will explode if he doesn’t tell Courf how he feels before they move to opposite ends of the country, particularly since Enj and Grantaire have managed to work things out and have been considerably happier since then. So he invites Courf out to eat lunch at a new Mexican restaurant they’ve been meaning to try, which sounds like a date but is the kind of thing Ferre and Courf do all the time just because they’ve been best friends since they were three and they are very happy to hang out with just them. After the meal they’re walking back to Combeferre’s when he blurts out

“I’ve fancied you since we were fourteen.”

“Oh”, replies Courf.

“I mean, I know you like boys since you get off with as many of them as you do girls but I don’t expect anything, I just wanted you to know before we left forever and stuff.”  
Courfeyrac cuts Ferre off from his ramblings by kissing him, which Ferre is not going to complain about. He kisses back. After what seems like an age Courfeyrac pulls away.

“I’ve been pining over you for a couple of years now. I’m so in love with you it’s unreal.”

Combeferre grins widely. Not everything is solved with a couple of kisses and confessions but he feels like they are finally exactly how they are meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you njoyed your gift (and everyone else like it too). Also I'm pretty sure this isn't affiliated with my tumblr so it should still be a secret.


End file.
